Photo credit: World Pipelines.
March 27, 2020.
Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.
Morocco Grants Rights to Sound Energy for Tendrara Gas Export Pipeline
Source: Morocco World News
Lede: British industrial company Sound Energy announced on March 20 that it received full rights to carry out its Tendrara Export Pipeline project in Morocco.
Key Background: The British company wants to build and operate a 120-kilometer 20-inch gas pipeline to connect the upcoming gas treatment plant and compression station (CPF) with the Gazoduc Maghreb Europe pipeline (GME). The Maghreb Europe pipeline runs from western Algeria, through Morocco, to southern Spain.
Why this is newsworthy: The Moroccan Government’s approval of this pipeline project will receive little to no attention amidst the blanket news coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic. This timing, intentional or not, limits the capacity for public response to a potential environmentally harmful development.
Moroccan specialists manufacture homemade medical devices to help cope with Covid-19
Source: Yabiladi
Lede: «Our nation needs our unity», a slogan chosen by a group of young people with technical and medical expertise, to launch an initiative called «Engineering v. Covid-19 Morocco». Their one goal is to help their homeland fight the pandemic, in their own way.
Key Background: «We found that we can start at the beginning by making face shields, because they are easy to manufacture and do not require much. Also because we can make large quantities of them. We work in a decentralized way. We have cells in different Moroccan cities, in order to reduce transportation, respect the rules of the lockdown and take advantage of the resources and capabilities of each region».
Why this is newsworthy: In a time of global crisis, Moroccan young people are doing what they can to help mobilize a response despite strict constraints on travel and the closing of most businesses. As medical supplies begin to run low these efforts could prove crucial to Morocco’s well-being during the ongoing pandemic.
Hundreds of tourists stranded in Moroccan lockdown
Source: AP News
Lede: Hundreds of tourists who were traveling in Morocco in motorhomes have found themselves stranded in a parking lot near a Tangier highway that authorities have turned into a makeshift quarantine center.
Key Background: The mostly British tourists were told by Moroccan authorities reacting to the coronavirus outbreak that they were no longer allowed to wait at the Moroccan side of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in the hope of being allowed entry into Spain.
Why this is newsworthy: Many of the foreign nationals who were stuck in Morocco after its borders closed were able to get out on last minute charter planes via the British and American Embassies. However, these travelers potentially have to ride out the remainder of the pandemic – or at least until the land border with Ceuta opens – parked on the side of the road with little supplies or medical support.
